


Sometime, If, and When

by FantastiqueParfait



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21876544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantastiqueParfait/pseuds/FantastiqueParfait
Summary: Rin joins a band. Sesshomaru is disappointed. An exploration of growing up and all the ways we dash our parents' hopes and dreams. One-shot series; not necessarily told linearly.Nominated: Best Character Portrayal (Sesshomaru), Best Serial; Feudal Connection IY Fandom Awards Q1 2020
Relationships: Kagura/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha), Kohaku/Rin (InuYasha)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	1. All About that Bass

He really should have known better. He never should have mentioned to his idiot brother that he was considering sending Rin to music lessons; he’d been caught in a moment of distraction and let it slip, and now he had to face the consequences. Etiquette be damned, he would notbe accepting this gift graciously. Or at all, even. It was _vulgar_ and far below their station.

“This is the BEST DAY EVER! My own bass guitar! Thank you thank you thank you – you’re the best uncle EVER!”

He’d had _plans_. She would learn either shamisen or biwa, a fitting choice for a young lady of their social status. Appropriate. Respectable. But it was too late for that, he noted as she ran off, guitar in hand, with his younger brother following close behind.

“Maybe it’ll just be a phase,” Kagura commented dryly, not looking convinced in the least. For all he knew, she was probably _enjoying_ this.

“Hm.” There was some hope, at least. Rin had never stayed interested in one subject for terribly long before.

All hope went out the window when she announced later that evening that she would, in fact, “love the bass forever” and would like to “keep it safe” in her bed with her as she slept that night.

It was all _his_ fault, and he would pay for it.

“You’re taking it back with you.”

“And break her heart? You and I both know that won’t be happening.”

“She’s too small. It’s too big for her.”

“Eh, she’ll figure it out.”

“She’ll make a terrible racket. She’ll bother the neighbors.”

“She’ll be incredible.”

“You’re a terrible influence.”

“I’m the BEST influence.”

“This is not the end of this. You _will_ be hearing from me if it becomes a problem.”

“Oh, this will definitely meet your definition of _a problem_. I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series will be made up of short oneshots I throw together as warm-up work for Adverse Effects. The first three pieces were originally posted to my Tumblr (same username) as Untitled Band!AU starting in November 2019. I hope you enjoy this half as much as I've enjoyed writing upset Sesshomaru.


	2. This is a Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin joins a band. Sesshomaru is disappointed. An exploration of growing up and all the ways we dash our parents' hopes and dreams.
> 
> One-shot series; not necessarily told linearly.

It had become _a_ _problem_. He’d looked the other way for far too long – nine years too long, in fact. He hadn’t minded when Kagura started looking for private bass teachers. He wasn’t concerned when Rin formed a group with other students at her middle school for the annual festival.

He didn’t even worry when the boys started coming around. High school boys were hardly what he’d consider a threat, and these boys especially were far too timid to cause any trouble. He let them have their “jam sessions” in the garage.

This, however, was taking things too far.

It started with a _spirited conversation_ regarding appropriate onstage attire. He didn’t understand why Rin had scoffed at his suggestion she perform in kimono. Bass and kimono would be a perfectly subversive combination, with the added benefit of not bringing shame on the family.

Kagura shot him down faster than Rin could. His own wife! Had he no allies in this battle? Apparently not.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous. She’d roast.”

“This is not an acceptable substitute. The skirt is far too short.”

“Is now an _acceptable_ time to remind you that I’m an adult?” Rin cut in.

He never should have relied on his brother to babysit so frequently. He’d turned her into an unbearable sass monster.

“I’ll be wearing this, _acceptable_ or not. I’ve made a generous compromise for your comfort; I’ll be roasting as it is with the turtleneck.”

She waited for a response. A car horn sounded before he could reply. “Right then, I’m out. See you after the show,” she said as she grabbed her bass and waltzed out the door.

“I think that went well; good job,” Kagura drawled.

He did not dignify that with a response.

* * *

He found himself in this godforsaken place not two hours later. Restaurant? Bar? Club? Regardless, it was filthy and filled with _young people_.

“We are two centuries too old to be here,” he told Kagura.

“I think it’s fun.” He did not appreciate the smirk. She was supposed to be on his side.

His mood darkened further as his idiot brother and Kagome rolled in with _the venture capitalist_ and his wife. The instigators had arrived.

“Rin’s first big concert! You must be so proud,” Kagome said as she arranged her belongings on the hook below the table.

“We are incredibly proud of Rin. She and the band have worked so hard,” Kagura spoke for him, relishing every word.

Laying it on thick there, wasn’t she? He _was_ proud of Rin. He just disapproved of all of her choices.

“Kohaku mentioned they’ll be debuting some new songs tonight,” Sango said. “I’ve heard a couple during their practices; they’re quite good.”

“Hm.” He turned his back to the rest of the group as the house lights dimmed.

* * *

This was _a problem_. First, this was not music. It was entirely too loud, entirely too high-energy, and there was no koto.

Secondly, _the guitarist was looking at Rin_.

“It’s his job,” Kagura said indifferently.

“Looks like they’re having fun,” Inuyasha added, trying minimally to stifle his laughter.

The guitarist was looking at Rin _and it was not the look one gives a coworker_.

The guitarist was looking at Rin and _Rin was looking back at him_.

His brother’s laughter _would not cease_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where I learned Sesshomaru's internal monologue is SASSY. I had great fun.


	3. Bad Feeling

This was a problem. She hadn’t meant for things to get so out of hand (“Or _in hand_!” she could almost hear her uncle shout).

Really, it had all started with Shippo. If he hadn’t invited the band over for a horror movie marathon (“To celebrate the shiny new record contract!”), they never would’ve come up with the video concept. And if Kohaku hadn’t been so hell-bent on self-producing (“It’ll be epic! And, you know… band bonding time,”) she would never have texted Uncle Inuyasha to see if they could take over one of his empty warehouses for a week.

He, of course, was happy to oblige (and not mention a word to her dad). Kagura didn’t need any convincing to keep Rin’s activities on the DL either – not that she was terribly surprised by that; Rin was pretty sure her stepmother’s true joy in life was making Sesshomaru violently uncomfortable.

And that’s how she found herself spending a week of her summer break in an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Saga (aka “the actual middle of fucking nowhere” per Satsuki), clad in a sports bra and cropped running tights and drenched in fake blood, accompanied by her bandmates and half of the university’s Aspiring Filmmakers Club as crew.

For some insane reason, Kagome had insisted on hosting them all. Not that that would’ve been a huge issue for them space-wise – one of the merits of living in the middle of nowhere was that there was space to have a giant house, which enabled them to host ten university students – but still, who would want ten university students in their house for a week, especially when they had small children?

They’d shot all of the footage of them actually playing the song on days one and two on a soundstage they built in the warehouse, and they spent the bulk of day three and four with about thirty local volunteer “zombies” doing exterior shots of the band split into groups (Rin and Kohaku battling through the industrial park, Shippo and Ai being chased through town, and Satsuki singlehandedly fighting off zombies on the “subway” – actually a retired traincar at the railway museum in Fukuoka).

Day five was the big one though – they were filming the finale fight scene inside the warehouse. Inuyasha and Kagome had brought them dinner (though should she eat if she was about to film an almost-shirtless fight scene? One of the downsides to self-producing meant that there was nobody with real film experience on set… She decided she didn’t want the answer to that question anyway as she and the others dug in).

“This is pretty impressive, you guys! How did you convince the studio to grant approval to self-produce your first music video?” Kagome asked brightly.

“Yeah… about that…” Shippo began, “We haven’t exactly told them? We’re hoping they’ll be impressed with the end result and approve it retroactively.”

“Yeah, they already think we’re ‘unique’ as it is, so we’re hoping it gels with ‘the brand’ they seem to have in mind,” Ai added.

She supposed she should feel relieved that the “brand” the label envisioned wasn’t too different from the one the band had for themselves (“scrappy”, as Ai liked to put it) – there weren’t many bands out there that had both human and youkai members, and, as far as she knew, they were the only youkai/human band that was 3/5ths female and had a member raised in one of Japan’s most prominent youkai families.

“Time to go! You ready?” Kohaku asked. She nodded and did her best to clear her mind.

Five hours later, they had it. She’d spent the rest of the weekend visiting Kagome’s lab and babysitting her cousins (it was the least she could do in return) before catching the bullet train back to Tokyo from Hakata (Shippo, Kohaku, Ai, and Satsuki drove the fourteen hours back to Tokyo with the instruments the day after the shoot ended).

She did her best to forget about the music video until about a month later, when Shippo announced the label had actually approved (something Rin had never thought would happen, as much fun as she’d had making the video) and would be scheduling the release for the next week. Suddenly, things felt a lot more real.

Things were _much more real_ when she had gathered everyone – Sesshomaru, Kagura, Jaken, and even Inuyasha and Kagome (who claimed they were in town for work reasons) – in the living room at home.

“Okay so, you know how I went to Saga for a week last month? Well we filmed a music video, and it was approved by the label, and uhh… here it is. It’s being released tomorrow, so… yeah,” she finished weakly as she started the video and slinked off to the back of the room.

Rin hated listening to herself, and she didn’t enjoy watching herself either, but the first minute and a half wasn’t so bad – it set up the “zombie apocalypse” cut with the band playing the song. Not bad at all.

And then the fighting started and Shippo and Ai were chased through downtown Saga on a motorcycle (she was still bummed that she didn’t get to do that scene), Satsuki kicked ass in the confined space of train car, and…

Rin and Kohaku were attacked by zombies, lost their shirts in the struggle (this was bound to start yet another _spirited family discussion_ ), and started battling their way through the industrial park with aluminum bats in hand.

Rin resisted the temptation to run from the room. She also fought the urge to check the reactions of her family members. She decided to stare at a wall instead.

Finally, the big fight scene (also interspersed with clips of the band playing – this time mostly guitar solos), then the shot of the band walking away from the carnage: heads held high and looking like total badasses, her hand in…

Oh.

 _Oh no_.

How had nobody pointed out she and Kohaku had been walking hand-in-hand in that take? That was not in the script.

That was _not in the script_!

“Okay that’s it, that’s the video. Hope you enjoyed it… BYE.” Blushing bright red, Rin turned and ran off to her room, followed only by the sound of her uncle’s cackling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Titled after "Bad Feeling" by Cobra Man, which inspired the idea for this particular chapter.


	4. Growing Pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tumblr Fluff Prompt #16: “Ohmygod, I’m in love with an adult man-child.”

“This one forbids it.”

“That’s nice. _This one_ has decided that _that one_ can shove it.” Kagura crossed her arms, meeting his icy gaze with fire in her eyes.

“This one would like to remind _that one_ that she is not the parent here.”

Oh yeah, that one was good. That’d show her.

“Might I remind you that you _specifically requested_ that I adopt her? Which I did, so sounds to me like there are _two_ parents here.”

 _Damn_. Not that Sesshomaru had forgotten (he would never), but generally Kagura preferred to take more of a “cool aunt” role and leave the rest to him.

Kagura smirked, satisfied with herself.

“The boys will be here at four. I’m going to have them rehearse in the garage, so I recommend you drive to work today. I also recommend you stop acting like a giant baby between now and your nine o’clock – your brother will smell the weakness radiating off you.”

“Hm,” he responded as he left for the day.

He wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t. Rin was a child, a _baby_. Sixteen was too early to have to start keeping an eye out for boys chasing after her. He didn’t want to think about it any further, so Sesshomaru shoved the thoughts from his mind until he wrapped work for the day.

* * *

He arrived home a little after six (he parked in the driveway -- he could be courteous even if he didn’t approve; he wasn’t an _animal_ ), surprised to discover that Kagura had been right – these three boys had no hope of posing a threat anytime soon (though Sesshomaru would posit that they had no hope of posing a threat _ever_ ).

“Hiro-kun! Rushing or dragging?” Rin asked sweetly, turning to her drummer (whom Sesshomaru had mentally labeled “stringbean”).

“R-rushing?” Hiro, who easily weighed no more than ninety pounds, stammered.

“Fix it, please!” Rin ordered, the command masked only slightly by her singsong tone.

“Yes ma’am!”

“And you two,” Rin turned to the guitarist (“headgear”) and keyboardist (“bowl cut”). “You need to follow his lead, even if he’s rushing. Otherwise we sound like garbage,” she smiled impatiently.

“Y-yes ma’am,” they squeaked.

A swell of pride filled Sesshomaru’s chest. _His little girl, commanding respect without even really trying. At such a young age!_

“See? Nothing to worry about,” Kagura murmured, appearing behind him suddenly. “They’re simultaneously awed and terrified by her. It’s pretty hilarious to watch.”

“Yes, well, perhaps this one overreacted.”

“That’s fine – I knew from the beginning that I was marrying a manchild. It’s easily your worst-kept secret,” Kagura teased as she led him into the house, leaving the kids to wrap up their rehearsal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Thanks for keeping interested in this fic -- a heads up that I did design this series with only intermittent updates in mind; right now "Adverse Effects" is my main focus, but I come back here when I need a little brain break and want to write something silly and fun.
> 
>  **I also wanted to let you know that "Sometime, If, and When" has been nominated for Best Serial and Best Character Portrayal (Sesshomaru) in the Q1 2020 Feudal Connection Inuyasha Fandom Awards over on Tumblr.** Voting is open until February 12th, and I'd be honored if you if you feel passionate enough about this series enough to vote. Really and truly, though, I'm just so jazzed to have been so welcomed back into the fandom after so long away and being nominated alongside some amazing artists and writers is a true honor.
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
